Short Interest in Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) Expands By 20.8%

Aura Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:AURA) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,280,000 shares, a growth of 20.8% from the December 31st total of 1,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 206,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.2 days. Approximately 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Aura Biosciences

In related news, insider Janet Jill Hopkins sold 11,822 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.36, for a total value of $110,653.92. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 151,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,419,846.48. This represents a 7.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Los Pinos Elisabet De sold 15,955 shares of Aura Biosciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.67, for a total value of $122,374.85. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 304,692 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,336,987.64. This trade represents a 4.98 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,778 shares of company stock worth $240,706 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 5.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Aura Biosciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AURA. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,000. American Century Companies Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Aura Biosciences during the second quarter worth $119,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aura Biosciences in the third quarter valued at $169,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Aura Biosciences by 107.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 53,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 27,718 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Aura Biosciences by 256.5% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 61,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 43,897 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.75% of the company’s stock.

Aura Biosciences Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ AURA traded down $0.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $7.85. The company had a trading volume of 152,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 122,703. The firm has a market capitalization of $392.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.54 and a beta of 0.30. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.90. Aura Biosciences has a fifty-two week low of $6.63 and a fifty-two week high of $12.38.

Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.42) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.02. On average, analysts anticipate that Aura Biosciences will post -1.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AURA has been the topic of several analyst reports. Lifesci Capital upgraded Aura Biosciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Aura Biosciences from $21.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Aura Biosciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Aura Biosciences in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Aura Biosciences from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $23.00.

About Aura Biosciences

Aura Biosciences, Inc, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, develops precision immunotherapies to treat a range of solid tumors. The company's proprietary platform enables the targeting of a range of solid tumors using virus-like particles conjugated with drugs or loaded with nucleic acids to create virus-like drug conjugates.